Over time we decided to call ourselves the Artistsas aka Art Sistas.
Then one day, I had a "scathingly brilliant idea"** to invite said Artistas to our home to play art for the weekend!
No, we did not know one another personally,just from the net- sounds scary huh? Well, I took my chances sent out the email and all three were ecstatic!! So we planned dates,travel,food preferences,etc.
My husband Riley was fabulous about the whole thing, helping me reorganize,paint and set up my side of the barn for art playtime and arranging sleeping quarters.
Rile and I did the meal planning,grocery shopping and last minute details together.
I must admit, we are an awesome team!!
The weekend finally arrived and luckily the two gals flying were coming in 10 minutes of one another. So we show up at the airport- me carrying a sign in front of me with ARTISTAS on it!! It worked!!
I heard- I'm Sherie!! After laughs and hugs we looked for Becky and there she was as well!! More laughs and hugs,grabbed their luggage and headed home to wait for Karenliz.
I heard- I'm Sherie!! After laughs and hugs we looked for Becky and there she was as well!! More laughs and hugs,grabbed their luggage and headed home to wait for Karenliz.
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| Handpainted canvas gifts for me from Karenliz! Gorgeous-thank you!! Karenliz arrived a bit later than planned because of car issues, but once again,there were laughs,hugs and whoops lets get this party started!! |
The next few days went like this...eat,laugh,play art,journal,cut and
paste,stencil,stamp,etc.,some sleep and do it all over again,but, we all agreed,it all
went by way too fast!
We also ate real good,with fresh veggies out of the garden.
Karenliz and Sherie fell in love with the chickens and Sherie hopes for some chickens of her own some day! ")
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| Sherie-our resident egg gatherer and chicken feeder!! |
When Riley, our resident chef and fire starter wasn't busy with us, he was working on a project of his own-more to come another day on this!
During the weekend,I taught the gals a class on creating altered bottles and we used our DecoArt products which they were so generous to supply through the Helping Artist Program.
We used DecoArt Modeling Paste,Media Acrylics Line, Traditions Paints,Americana and Chalky Paints,Crackle Glaze and Matte Medium as well.
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| Trying to look teacherly,instead,displaying a goofy face! teehee |
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| Becky enjoying the process |
Proud Student!
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| happy student-Sherie! |
These two are totally getting into what they are doing!
and here we have our photographer in residence- Karenliz!
Karenliz's photos here show the gorgeous bottles created by these wonderful gals who have so much talent and I feel such a special connection to!!
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| Created by Sherie |
Created by Becky
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| Created by Karenliz |
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| Created by me! |
Chum was our mascot in residence
- He made sure the chickens stayed in line, slept under our table in the art barn-day & night.
And made Karenliz play soccer ball and chase every chance he got!
They bonded real well- even taking selfies together!! heehee
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| I freakin love this photo!!!!!! |
We also each painted an abstract using some inspiration from Pinterest. It really is amazing how we each had such different interpretations of the photos we were using.
This gorgeous canvas is by Sherie Weiser Eddy- and can you believe she gifted this to me before she left?
Tears of joy well up when I look at this!
The weekend was beyond any expectations I had and the time spent together learning,sharing and creating was beyond my words. I can tell you we did not sleep much,laughed a lot and really enjoyed one another s company.
The one thing that I did learn,was,at one time,I toyed with the idea of doing this as a business...I really believe to go any larger or try to recreate this for money,for me,would loose the essence of the art&soul that was here at this retreat.
I thank you all for joining us today and hope you have been inspired in some way!
Jackie ")
** the quote"Scathingly brilliant Idea" is from my all time favorite movie- "The Trouble With Angels" starring Haley Mills and Rosalind Russell **
33 comments:
Well, what a great time you all had. Looks so fun. You and hubbie are wonderful hosts. The art is beautiful and those bottles.. oh my.
I am just so! so! jealous Jackie what a fantastic idea and all the lovely things you made. Have a great weekend and happy crafting, Angela x
Sounds like, you all had an incredible weekend and i'm jealous for sure. Love the bottles and the abstract paintings. xoxo Elly
Wow, what a fantastic post, you gals sure had a great time. Nothing nicer than getting together with like-minded friends, crafting and eating and having fun! And I LOVE all the things you made. If it wasn't so far I would be over next weekend! You all have lots of wonderful memories to treasure, enjoy them! Have a nice weekend, hugs, Valerie
Oh my goshhhhhhhhh! You guys are TOTALLY amazing! It soooooo looks like you have the best time ever! I love the essence and feel (from your photos) that came out of your retreat! I would agree on your last statement....it's all about the fellowship and sharing of your creativity and the love of it! I would hate to ever lose my initial heart for starting the process. I, love all the art that came forth out of your time together, but THOSE ALTERED BOTTLES were the BOMB!!! What is so funny, is I could totally pick out whose bottles were whose before I even saw whose they were! You each have sooooo much creative style and talent that is expressed through each piece you do! The abstracts were amazing as well! I am so glad you all got to spend that time together and get to know each other in a more personal way! I feel you won't ever forget that time! AWESOME!! Blessings my friend! :)
All I can say it that it was a PERFECT weekend! From the first moment I saw Jackie and her husband, Riley, in the airport holding up that wonderful, welcoming sign, and greeting me with such open, loving arms (giving great hugs) I knew I found friends for life!!! I posted on my Facebook wall: "How do you thank an angel who has come into your life"? I was, and will be forever grateful for all that they shared.
Having a mini-vaca: GOOD; Flying to the beautiful countryside in New York: GREAT;
Laughing, arting, hugging, loving, relaxing, talking, learning, no make-up, creating, eating yummmmm foods, perfect weather, meeting friends for life, all in one weekend...PRICELESS!!!!!!
Not only did I learn some wonderful art techniques from a FABULOUS teacher, Jackie, we got some very, very amazing surprises!!
“Maybe mistakes are what make our fate... without them what would shape our lives? Maybe if we had never veered off course we wouldn't fall in love, have babies, or be who we are. After all, things change, so do cities, people come into your life and they go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart... and if you're very lucky, a plane ride away”
― Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City
That sounds like a lot of fun Jackie. ..so happy you got some lovely creative souls. It's a lot of fun with like minded people and you guys have churned out some beauties here! Love the bottles. Here's wishing you more crafty good times like this.Hugs.
That sounds like a lot of fun Jackie. ..so happy you got some lovely creative souls. It's a lot of fun with like minded people and you guys have churned out some beauties here! Love the bottles. Here's wishing you more crafty good times like this.Hugs.
Oh my goodness...what a fun time! LOVE all these photos! The art is wonderful too!
Oh my goodness Jackie, what a wonderful thing do to. Sounds like to much fun and what a great bonding experience. The bottles are amazing. Thanks for sharing this wonderful time on your post.
What a fantastic weekend! Glad you had such a gopod time AND were so creative!
I wanna be a sista in spirit! So tickled that I know you guyz virtually...see, we really do exist!!!
Oh what a wonderful time, such fabulous projects, and an incredible weekend. I can feel the energy all the way here! Envious!!!!!!
Gosh .. what an amazing meeting and you all came up with WONDERFUL art!
This is just AWESOME!
I love that you share that all with us Jackie!
HAPPY WEEKEND my friend!
oxo
Susi
Hello Jackie
All I can say is the friends you chose to share a weekend with you are very very very lucky, gosh how envious am I right at this minute. You are a special person and your Hubby is precious also.
One word for the Art that you produced and that is STUNNING. Wonderful pics; it relates what a great time you all had.
If I lived closer I would be begging you to be a Sista.
Smiles;)
Sue
What a brilliant time you had! Once again your descriptions make me feel as if I was part of it all! I love the creations that grew out of the weekend. They look amazing - so beautiful! What a generous hearted 'Art Sista' you are , Jackie to share so much and spread so much happiness.xx
Oh wow, what a great post and what an amazing time you gals must have had!! Your home seems like the perfect venue for something like this, and such great photos, they give the rest of us a real feeling of what it must have been like!! A truly genius idea and the art you ladies managed to produce looks superb! Love the bottles and the abstract art is just stunning too!!!
A wonderful idea, an amazing venue, some like minded friends and good food, what more could anybody want? - Thanks so much for taking the time to share it with us all, I really got a flavour of what it must have been like!
What an absolute delight it is to see this post.
Reading it along with your photos was such fun.
You all know how to have a great time
AND you and your sweet Mr are like energizer bunnies with all you do and so thoughtfully too.
Those bottles are absolute treasures!
AND the abstracts are Wowee wonderful too.
It was sweet of you to create this post so we could share in such a special time which is inspiring on many levels.
You rock Missy!
Happy Weekend!
oxo
Oh Jackie...THIS looks like SO MUCH FUN!!!! WOW OH WOW!!! What a fabulous way to spend a weekend! NOW THAT IS MY IDEA OF A GOOD TIME! THE art you guys created is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing these photos and the art! I loved it! <3 Candy
I love that you all planned this retreat! It is obvious that so much happiness and love was shared by all. Art is so amazing to connect virtual strangers in such a Life affirming way 😀 I just wish I was there!
Amazing time you all had what a treat and loved your art projects too
It was an amazing weekend. Jackie and Riley were the perfect hosts for this arting weekend. Meeting through the internet is one thing but then meeting my artsistas face to face was amazing. I felt like I knew them forever. It was so much fun. Art Sisters for Life!!!!! Love you guys.
What a perfect rendition of a truly lovely art weekend given by two of the most kind and generous people I know!
what an amazing friend filled, art filled weekend. I see your hubby is a good,sport like mine and jumps on to make everyone feel welcome. Perfect spot on the farm. In summer, barefoot by the campfire. Love all your projects, how marvelous. I see someone else likes to stick things out of people's heads like I do. pretty crown. Xox
Fabulous post!! Love all the projects, fun and fellowship...oh did I say food, you had. The bottles are amazing!
Looks like a fabulous time was had by all - how wonderful!
Jackie, I'm so happy you shared this wonderful retreat with us! You and Riley made wonderful hostess and host; I'm sure the girls would agree! It's so amazing that Riley played such a huge part in this, sharing his time and talents with your girls. Wow! A husband that cooks is worth his weight in gold!
Your 1/2 of the barn as an art studio rocks! So much room! I'm cracked pistachio with envy once again!
And as for these artistic projects--each one fantastic, full of love and creativity! They really evoke emotion, each and every one. I can say there must have been so much electricity in the air! Good, positive, artisitc energy! You are one good hearted person to share with your blog friends and to gather them close to you! Huge hugs, my crafty friend! I hope to be there in person some day, too!
Wow, it looks like everyone had a fabulous time and made gorgeous projects! Thanks for sharing your photos with us Jackie. hugs :)
What a fantastic post... so full of crafty fun and creative joy. The projects are amazing, one and all, and it looks as though you all had the most amazing time. Thanks for sharing some of the fun.
Alison xx
The art that came out of your special weekend is fantastic and the joy of friendship shared with your art sisters group is obvious. Such a spirited weekend for you all. I'm so happy you made this happen for you and the others. An experience you'll never forget.
Just a little FYI for all of Jackie's followers… I know Jackie mentioned that DecoArt gave her a ton of paints for all of us to use in our projects which we were able to take home! I have to put in a sincere plug for DecoArt and just say that I am really loving their products as well as their price point! I have always been a big Golden fan, however the quality of DecoArt paints and mediums definitely matchup. I have painted with the same colors side-by-side and although the consistency is a little different the colors and end result seem the same to me. Their glazing medium is awesome as is there a crackle paint! 🎨 Happy painting :-) !
I'll leave a comment too hand hope you see it. Wow, what an incredible time you all had, and so much fun. Your husband is totally awesome to help you like that and keep everyone fed. The work that came out of your retreat is beautiful. I hope you continue to do this annually! Maybe it will grow and a few others could join in too, though that would be a lot to take on. Totally loved everything in your photos. Hugs XOXO
I thought I recognized Karenliz! I didn't recognize Sherie or Becky, though - or you, for that matter! What a wonderful get-together - you must have had tons of fun - and such BEAUTIFUL bottles created, I'm totally speechless!
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